CAPACITY BUILDING FOR HEALTH PROFESSION EDUCATION AND RESEARCH IN MALAWI (CHEER- Malawi) PROJECT SUMMARY: Malawi faces the double encumbrance of high burden of communicable diseases and an increasing burden of non-communicable diseases. From the latest Global Burden of Disease Report (2013), HIV and AIDS (34.9%) and other communicable conditions such as malaria, diarrheal diseases and respiratory infections combined (23.2%) are the major contributors to Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYS)[1]. Under the Health Sector Strategic Plan I 2011-2016, Malawi made substantial health gains by reducing infant mortality, Under-5 mortality, maternal mortality ratio (MMR) and HIV prevalence among women and men age 15-49 years[2]. Despite the progress, Malawi's MMR and neonatal mortality rate (NMR) are among the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. Educational programs at COM and KCN have in part contributed to the strengthening of the health system through the production of pre-service as well as the training of post-basic health professionals and conduct of relevant health research. Despite the increase in the numbers of health professionals produced by both COM and KCN, significant gaps remaingiven theMalawian population is rapidly increasing in size. The challenge in further increasing the output from educational institutions, while maintaining and improving the quality of its graduates, call for innovative ways of pedagogy and research. This can be achieved by improving the quality of Health Profession Education (HPE) through establishment of a center of excellence in HPE; strengthening research capacity and governance; encouraging inter-professional education and training; and decentralizing education and training to the community setting including rural and peripheral sites. This has potential to increase access to health education thus ensuring continuing professional development of health care workers. This will be done through long-term and sustainable coordination between educational, community and research institutions in a collaborative manner to address the health needs of the nation. This grant application brings together a consortium of key institutions and individuals that are currently championing health profession education and research in Malawi. The consortium is purposefully designed to build capacity within COM, the only public higher education institution offering training in medicine and degree level allied health programs such as physiotherapy, pharmacy and medical laboratory science; KCN, the only higher education institution offering nursing degree programs at undergraduate and postgraduate levels; Malawi College of Health Sciences (MCHS), the major training institutions for diploma level allied health workers and nurses; and the Malawi Ministry of Health and Population (MOH), the major provider of health services, to ensure maximal buy-in at national policy level and sustainability as well as strengthening inter- professional collaboration in education, research and service delivery. 1